Ethics dispute

Holding the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, Republicans removed a fellow Republican as chairman of the ethics committee, because he presided over an earlier admonishment of DeLay.

Then Republicans ordered changes in the ethics committee procedures to short-circuit a thorough ethics investigation of DeLay or anyone else.

With charges mounting against him, including travel paid by lobbyists, DeLay is seeking a hearing before the ethics committee, insisting he is sure it will clear him.

The ethics committee is the right place for a fair hearing that can clear a House member's name. But DeLay's manipulation of the ethics process will prevent any ethics committee finding from having any credibility.

Democrats, enjoying DeLay's predicament, are refusing to participate in an ethics committee that operates under DeLay-inspired rules.

While their interest is political, their position is right. The ethics committee must function apart from House politics, with rules that are fair to the public and to House members in other words, the old rules that governed ethics investigations.

U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut's 4th District was the first Republican to call for DeLay's resignation as majority leader because of the ethics charges against him.

For that, Shays was branded a "jerk" by U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, a DeLay pal.

But more and more House Republicans are worrying about the impact of the DeLay controversy on themselves and Congress.

House Republicans, including Nancy Johnson and Rob Simmons of Connecticut, should insist on an independent, credible investigation of the ethics charges against DeLay.